preparation method | methyl 4-oxotetrahydrothiophenol -3-carboxylate was prepared as follows: 1) methyl acrylate (99.2, 1.1 mmol) was added slowly to a solution of methyl mercaptoacetate (91 mL, 1.0 mmol) and piperidine (2.0 mL, 0.02 mol) while maintaining the temperature of the reaction mixture at 50 °c. The reaction was stirred for 2 hours, then excess methyl acrylate and piperidine were distilled off under high vacuum to give the target product methyl 3-((methoxycarbonyl) methylthio) propionate (185g, 96%). LC-MS (method A):(ES +) 193,RT = 4.29 min. 2) lithium metal (250g, 2.12 mol) was treated with methanol (80 mL) in toluene (0.30 mL) at room temperature. After all the lithium was dissolved, methyl 3-((methoxycarbonyl) methylthio) propionate was added over 0.5 hours at 70 °c. The reaction temperature was then increased (methanol was distilled off) to a final temperature of 110 °c and this temperature was maintained for 18 hours. The resulting mixture contained a 1:1 mixture of the desired product and methyl 3-oxotetrahydrothiophene-2-carboxylate. The reaction was cooled and the solid was collected by filtration to provide a solid enriched with the desired product lithium salt. The solid was acidified with 1N HCl solution and extracted with DCM. The organic phase was concentrated and the residue was purified by column chromatography, eluting with EtOAc/petroleum ether (2 to 10%) to remove any residual methyl 3-oxotetrahydrothiophene-2-carboxylate, methyl 4-oxotetrahydrothiophenol -3-carboxylate (14.7g, 33%) was obtained from the second eluted fraction of the column. |